


Flowering Night

by Denevega



Category: Odin Sphere
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 09:45:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7527916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denevega/pseuds/Denevega
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It…sort of made sense, she supposed. Ingway did seem to care for her and…</p><p>Thanks to the fairies' traditional expectation, the queen experiences a first. Thankfully, it wasn't with a stranger like expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flowering Night

**Author's Note:**

> The world needs more Ingway/Mercedes smut that isn't gross stuff involving frogs.

The dwarf in brown jolted when the teacup the fairy was holding clattered against the saucer. In a way, he had expected that kind of reaction to what he had just said, but at the same time he still wished that Mercedes had given him some kind of hint that she didn’t quite understand what he had just mentioned.

A cool breeze wafted through the open window and into the palace, causing the snow white blossoms in Mercedes’s hair to sway. The girl continued to stare at the dwarf, red eyes widened slightly in confusion. “Matthew,” she said in an inquisitive tone. “What do mean when you say ‘ _seeing that it’s almost time for **my** Flowering Night?_ ’”

Matthew’s jaw went slack and he found that his hands were shaking in nervousness. Was it really right for him to talk about this with her? It would have been more of a job for Elfaria, but…well, Elfaria was no longer with them and Mercedes had taken her place as Queen. It just felt completely wrong for a wizened old man like him to talk about something so personal with a girl he almost treated as his granddaughter.

Taking a moment to adjust his pointed hat, Matthew slipped out of his chair and began trotting towards to the door. “Your Majesty, allow me to get someone who is more…qualified to tell you what needs to be said.”

Mercedes wanted to protest immediately (after all, why couldn’t Matthew tell her about this?) but he was already out the door, leaving the little fairy queen to grumble about his absence. Her legs swung back and forth as she waited impatiently for someone to come in and she nibbled on a nut cookie while looking out the window. If no one came soon, then she might as well go out and check on the troops.

She didn’t have to leave, though, as footsteps indicated that someone was coming down the hall. The door creaked open again and revealed the figure of a rather tall fairy with short, cotton-like hair and silver wings. Dressed in a beautiful blue and white gown, she approached the table and came to sit where Matthew had been. Mercedes tried to remember who this woman was, but she answered for her as her kind eyes closed and she smiled.

“I’m Penelope. I’m a healer in the palace’s sickroom.”

Slowly, Mercedes nodded as Penelope slightly leaned forward, fingers lacing together as she rested her chin on the back of her palms. Her eyes opened again and she let out a small sigh. “Sometimes, in our haste to win this war, we forget that our Queen is still young and hasn’t learned all that there is that she needs to know, such as her coming of age rites.”

“O-oh,” Mercedes glanced sheepishly down at her hands. “Is that what it is?”

Penelope tipped her head forward and her fringe shadowed her eyes over. She spoke gently, although her tone had become somewhat more serious. “Fairies are sometimes described as untrustworthy, perhaps because humans aren’t terribly familiar with the nature of our culture. One such part of it is the Flowering Night, which is the night during a fairy’s eighteenth spring when he or she moves on and is considered an adult. ‘Tis a special time for them, but it’s also important because …”

Penelope paused and gazed back up at Mercedes. The girl was leaning forward with a positively curious expression. Penelope smiled at her, dimly. “Well, the Flowering Night is when a fairy experiences their first time, if I were to put it vaguely. I was asked to be blunt, though, and will instead tell Her Majesty straight up that ‘tis the first time she allows a man to bed her.”

“…What?” Mercedes still didn’t understand, but at the same time she did. “I’m supposed to…let a man take away my…that?”

Penelope nodded. The Queen sat back in her chair, her stomach suddenly churning in loops and corkscrews. “I don’t…do I _have_ to?” She asked. She felt like throwing up.

“‘Tis expected of you, I’m afraid,” Penelope replied. “Like your mother before you, a man will be selected by the nobles that they deem suitable and, deep in a beautiful grove, he will claim you for one night as his own. If you are unlucky as your mother was, you may even…”

The healer bolted up when Mercedes fell out of her chair and to the floor gagging. “Your Majesty? Your Majesty! Wait, are you-?!”

Outside, the guards heard something splatter against the shimmering wood.

~*~*~

The servant fairy seemed horribly confused to find the Fairy Queen hunched up in the hallway with a flower pot held up to her mouth. A moment later, though, the auburn-haired man heard _clearly_ why she was there and in that state. Kindly, he came to her side and spoke in a very soft, surprisingly high-pitched voice.

“Are you okay, Your Majesty?” He said. “Shall I get you some medicine?”

Mercedes’s voice came out shaking and with an ugly gurgle. “N-no, I’m fine, it’s just nerves. I’m…ugh…” She set the pot down and buried her face in her hands. “I can’t believe no one told me this, and on such short notice…”

The man bit his lower lip. “Popular rumor in the castle states that your Flowering Night is tomorrow. Are you perhaps feeling ill over that?”

Weakly, the Fairy Queen nodded. The man looked away somewhat awkwardly, only to look back when Mercedes spoke up again. Her voice almost sounded like it was choking up in a strangled sob. “Mother…mother always told me that when you bed someone, it should be with someone you love, not a complete stranger. And, I mean…he’s far away, but I have someone else in mind rather than what the nobles are probably going to pick for me…”

“Forgive my asking…” The man hesitated as Mercedes looked at him. He realized she was expecting him to ask his question and exhaled nervously. “What is your ideal man like?”

The girl rubbed at her reddening face. “He’s human, for one thing. He’s a prince, tall, golden-haired, kind of…handsome…” Mercedes laughed, dryly. “He’s dressed in a mantle and turban and…um…keep this a secret, but he was that frog that I was with.”

“Oh my!” The man chuckled. “How surprising! Well, I…hmm…” He looked at her, watching as her expression turned to a sorrowful one instead. “I mean…maybe if you pray hard enough, wish hard enough…maybe he’ll come to you tomorrow. But maybe that’s too much to ask for. I’m sorry…”

Mercedes shook her head and stood up, looking at the servant fairy with a sad expression. Again, she rubbed at her face, rather particularly near her eyes. “No, it’s okay. I think anyone would want me to try and give me some comforting words. I guess…I guess I just got to relax, you know? I’m Queen Mercedes and I have expectations I must fulfill for my people, even if what I have to do is taxing on me. So…” She smiled. “Thank you for talking with me. Just…take that pot to the washroom, okay?”

“As you wish, Your Majesty,” the servant bowed. Mercedes coughed and spun around on her heel before walking down the hallway, her direction suggesting that she was on her way to the sickroom. The servant smiled up until she disappeared around the corner, at which point that smile twisted into a grimace.

“How cruel…I don’t like it a bit.”

~*~*~

The next day passed by soundlessly for Mercedes. Each hour increased her anxiety tenfold. She couldn’t sleep, barely ate, and felt like an overall mess. As much as Matthew, Penelope, and her other subjects tried to give her comforting words, there really was no stopping her anxiety over the coming evening. When the sun began to set beyond the treetops, she wondered if she should just escape to Titania and never come back. Ringford would be fine with Matthew in charge.

The servants helped her prepare as, one by one, the stars began to twinkle outside. They gave her a thorough bath, selected soft undergarments that would be easy to pry away, and rubbed into her skin fragrant oils and gave her instructions for the night procedures. Another pool would be located in the grove for cleaning, as well as a table with towels and spare clothes. She would be there until morning when a servant would come to pick her up. Afterwards, life would continue as normal.

Once upon a time, Mercedes would have relished in running through the forest barefoot, but tonight it felt like the leaves, fallen twigs, and pebbles on the ground were trying to stab holes in her soles. Flanked on all sides by servants to hide her from view, she felt so incredibly _vulnerable_ when all she was wearing was a night shirt pinned at the front by a green ribbon and panties. Once, twice, she looked between the servants to see the few fairies out gawking at the little procession and quickly hid away again out of embarrassment.

The grove was in a part of the forest that not even Mercedes recognized. Here, an odd scent that smelled distinctly of lavender hung in the air delicately and was, admittedly, calming as she walked beneath golden lights and white flowers. An arch made of two trees wrapped in ivy marked the entrance and the servants pulled away, allowing Mercedes the chance to walk to it free of interferences. One servant, a girl with feathery blonde hair, gave her a bow.

“The man the nobles picked will be brought shortly. Please wait while he is fetched.”

A set of emerald curtains was drawn and Mercedes was left alone. She stood awkwardly as the footsteps and fluttering wings faded away, red eyes looking around the grove to see what it had to offer. Indeed, there was a table with the towels and spare clothes, but what the servants had failed to mention was the large canopied bed that seemed to have been molded to fit into a set of roots at the base of a tree. Mercedes approached it quietly, taking in the beautiful gold-colored gossamer fabric and the blue flowers wrapped meticulously around the smooth, branch-like posts.

In utter nervousness, she sat down on it and found to mattress to be incredibly soft, almost as much as the one in her room back in the palace. There were other things to look at in the grove as well; a small pool with a waterfall cascading into it, the flowers that gave off the distinct lavender-like smell, and the orb-shaped lights hanging from the trees. But, despite all this beauty, Mercedes felt increasingly scared and alone knowing that she was likely going to be bedded by someone who was a complete stranger to her.

Footsteps once again approached and Mercedes turned her attention to the entranceway. The curtains fluttered just slightly as a pair of feet appeared at their bottoms.

“May I come in?” A familiar high-pitched voice asked. Mercedes put her hand up to her collarbone and nodded, although she was quick to realize he couldn’t even see her.

“Y-yes! I’m ready!” She said. She smiled weakly as the servant fairy from the previous day pushed the curtains aside and stepped into the grove. Mercedes fumbled for a moment with her words, trying to think of something reasonably witty to say. “S-so…” she finally managed. “I’m surprised. I thought you’d be a snobby noble, but here you are!”

The servant laughed heartily, his hand moving up to scratch at his chin. “ _Please_ , Queen Mercedes, you flatter me _too much_ ,” he said as his voice morphed to something deeper and much smoother. Mercedes was taken aback by the sudden change and shifted nervously as he continued to laugh.

“W-what’s so funny? Are you actually some smug jerk?”

“Maybe,” the servant replied as a soft golden light encompassed his body. “That depends on your definition of smug.”

The girl found every muscle in her body becoming tense and realized too late that her cheeks were flushing an unbelievable shade of red. The servant’s wings retracted and disappeared into a flowing cape that settled on to the man’s shoulders and single feather sprouted from the turban that appeared on his head. His auburn hair was no more; strands of blonde framed his face that carried an all too impish smile. His name had left Mercedes’s lips before he even stopped transforming.

“I-Ingway?!” It came out as an incredibly high-pitched squeak. The golden light faded away and the prince of Valentine breathed out unhappily.

“Seriously, how do you fairies live with those wings on your back?” He asked approaching the bed. Suddenly, Mercedes felt _incredibly_ left open and moved her hands to cover her chest while pulling her knees up.

“Y-you…you’re…why _are you_ here?” She angrily spat. She scooched away when Ingway sat beside her on the bed, only to be surprised when he fell backwards on to the bed with his hands behind his head. The prince kicked off his shoes and grinned while looking up at her.

“I’m here because a little birdy told me that ‘twas your Flowering Night and that, if I didn’t interfere, you were going to have your virginity taken away by a man you’d never met before. So here I am to spare you an evening of suffering.”

Mercedes still had her hands up, although she had relaxed somewhat and now looked at him with skepticism. “Wait, by that do you mean you’ll fill the role of the man who beds me or you’re just not going to…?

“It depends on what the Queen wants,” Ingway said with a shrug. “Either fulfill your country’s idiotic expectation or just…I don’t know, we’ll talk for a while and then maybe fall asleep.”

Mercedes sat there in silence. Ingway, prince of the fallen kingdom of Valentine, here to save her from something that had made incredibly uncomfortable to begin with. It…sort of made sense, she supposed. Ingway did seem to care for her and…Her cheeks flushed again and she covered her mouth.

“You…didn’t…it…I…” She trailed off while crawling over the pillows and lying upon them. She felt the mattress shift beneath her and watched Ingway sit up and move over so that he was beside her and leaning over her. Shyly, she looked away and gulped loudly. “I just…I’m relieved but also…Don’t you have…other things…I mean what if you already have another girl…?”

“Hey, for all my good looks that I _apparently_ have,” Ingway snorted when Mercedes scowled at him. “I don’t have girls throwing themselves at me. No one exactly goes after dirty vagabonds who have to live in the wilderness after their kingdom gets blown up.”

His violet eyes expressed a certain degree of sorrow as he kept looking at her. “You deserve to be happy and comfortable. If I can at least do that, then maybe I might have something better to do than…well…that of which I still need to do.”

He was hesitant in his next movement and it ended up being meticulous. A hand reached out and cupped Mercedes’s pink cheek, making her flinch slightly and shiver. He frowned and started to pull away, but Mercedes’s own hand flew up and brought him back as she shook her head.

“N-no, it’s okay. I like having you close.”

His thumb tickled where it rubbed just slightly beneath her eye. “Very soft,” she heard him murmur. “Like silk…” She caught the pink dust on his cheeks and his mesmerized gaze, the way he shifted his body just so that he could look down upon her better. She almost had the urge to sit up, flutter her wings, and come to him in a hug, but…no, she’d either let them stay like this or have things unfold naturally, like they should. At least, that’s what she figured.

“Love’s funny, you know?” Mercedes said as his knuckles brushed against a blonde braid. “It’s a good feeling, but it hurts too. Like a weird throbbing you can’t get rid of…”

Ingway chuckled softly while his fingers moved to tilt her chin up. “They say ‘tis the heart’s wordless language. Never understood it, if I’ll be honest.”

“Does it throb right now?” A sudden question, perhaps, but Mercedes wanted to ask it anyway. She could feel her pulse pounding like a rabbit as Ingway’s expression softened and he spoke endearingly to her.

“‘Tis unbearable, really. But strangely, I’d rather it not go away,” he started to draw in close and Mercedes found the words she wanted to say caught in her throat. Inches from her face, his warm breath felt like fire on her neck and she found herself cupping the back of his head without really thinking or meaning to. “When it aches, I really just…think of you…”

It felt like a bubble had popped within her chest. For how scared she was of the place she was in and what she was expected to do, relief and happiness were filling in the little cracks of Mercedes’s heart. She realized that, if things went beyond this, she’d be okay with it because Ingway was here and supporting her. She was going to be all right, even if there was an unknown place she had to go.

_Much like what I have to do for Ringford in the future._

Her fingers curled slightly when their lips brushed together, briefly and nervously. He did not leave her, but rather took a moment to breathe uneasily before pressing further, a little harder, and a bit more passionately. When he finally did pull away, he had left her throbbing even worse than before. Mercedes closed her eyes and exhaled sharply before she whispered all that she wanted and needed to say.

“I’m okay hurting if it means I can love you,” she shifted a bit and tentatively reached up towards the chain of his mantle. She was surprised how easily she managed to find the hidden clasp and watched as the heavy cloth fell from his shoulders in a fluid motion, leaving his torso bare to her. Just for a moment, the corner of his mouth twitched as though to smile while he reached up and carefully removed his turban.

“Are you sure about this?” Ingway asked as he placed it near the end of the bed. Mercedes nodded while he pulled his legs on to the mattress and carefully placed his hands on either side of her. Oddly, she had a feeling he was asking himself as much as he was asking her. Maybe…no, Ingway didn’t seem like a guy to become anxious over things like this.

Just for a moment, the fairy felt her heart skip a beat as Ingway’s attention turned to the ribbon holding the front of her nightshirt closed. Again, there was a burning feeling as his sun-kissed skin brushed over her torso and slowly untied the ribbon and her whole body let out a shake when he pushed the folds to the side to expose her naked bosom. She wasn’t terribly developed, she knew, and worried that he might be disappointed at what little he had to work with. There were plenty of other fairies who had better bodies than hers.

And yet he surprised her when he lowered his lips down and gave her collarbone a tentative kiss, followed by another one a little further down. When he kissed the spot directly over her heart, a weak noise left her when something soft, warm, and _wet_ touched her skin.

“You smell lovely, by the way,” Ingway mumbled as he lifted his head. “You also taste of napple juice.”

Mercedes’s eyes widened. “W-what?! What did my servants…?” She frowned when the man snickered.

“I jest, love,” he said giving her another peck on the lips. She wanted to protest, but Mercedes could only squeal as Ingway gently cupped her breasts and began to rub her soft nipples between his thumbs and index fingers. Her left leg bent slightly as odd, warm tingles formed in the pit of her stomach, changing her previous fright into an _indescribable_ emotion that she couldn’t put her finger on.

“I…” Her voice cracked as Ingway took the pink nub in his mouth. “Be…gentle…and slow…” She was hoping he’d express at least _some_ restraint. The thought of him becoming rough with her was not one that she particularly liked, especially when all this was so new and so confusing to her.

Slender fingers worked their way into his hair as he used his lips, teeth, and tongue to tease her. Ingway mostly sucked on it, but there were other times he gave it a slight pinch or licked it. Her other breast was cupped and kneaded carefully with occasional tugs upon the center and she found herself squeezing her knees together while the tingles slowly built up. When the sorcerer finally stopped and moved back up to kiss her with wet lips, a whine threatened to roll off her tongue.

“Shh, ‘tis all right,” Ingway mumbled against her. His tongue ran across her bottom lip and her jaw opened as though to beg him to come closer. He didn’t, however, and instead moved to nibble at one of her long ears. “We don’t want to rush things, now do we?”

Mercedes nodded aggressively and twitched when his fingers ran over her delicate wings. “Careful…” She said quietly as his hands spread and held her sides. Even these simple touches proved to be stirring the melting pot within her while he slid down and gave her thighs a squeeze. She had also given notice to the tight bulge that had appeared between his legs as he stroked the area dangerously close to her panties and wondered how long it would be until _that_ was inside her.

“Do you want them off?” His thumb slipped beneath the waistband and gave them a tug. It was a scary prospect for him to see her body’s most tender center, but she would see the rest of him soon enough anyway. Mercedes nodded hesitantly and Ingway returned it in kind before hooking his fingers and slipping her underwear down, not stopping until it had been slipped past her ankles and cast to the forest floor.

He did not exactly do anything to begin with, although Ingway did place his fingers on her hidden folds in experimentation, resulting in another noise from Mercedes. “You’re already very warm and wet down there…” He awkwardly tugged at the violet wraps holding his breeches up, but quickly shook his head before glancing at Mercedes’s face. “Now then, would you like a kiss or would you rather I use fingers?”

“F-fingers, please…” She really didn’t want him to do something _that_ dirty. To help him a bit, she spread her legs open and gave him the chance to carefully pry her open, revealing her sex to him. Another shiver, another gasp as Ingway pressed his fingers against her and gingerly rubbed her.

“How does this feel?” His fingers glided over the pinkness and barely touched a _very_ particular spot. The queen tilted her head back and opened her mouth, trying to say something but instead moaning his name. Evidently taking this as an indication he was doing _something_ right, Ingway began to rub her a bit more vigorously and pushed against her warmth in gentle motions. The startling moment came when his finger slipped inside, causing Mercedes to let out an incredibly loud squeak.

“You’re…!” She only became more delighted as he began to pump in and out of her, still taking his time to make sure she was positively comfortable. Within a few minutes, she had loosened up enough that he could even place a second finger within her, resulting in more squeals and moans. And when she least expected it, he must have fired some kind of spark of magic within her, because she bucked her hips when a near electric tingle shot through her system. “So much…it’s good…!”

She heaved a few labored pants as her pulled his fingers out, examining the wetness covering them before, to her shock, he gave them a lick. “Strange flavor…” He said as he pulled at the knot of his wraps. Mercedes wasn’t even surprised as his trousers were pried off with his socks, leaving him stark naked and with his erection fully exposed.

The next few moments were positively _painful_ as Ingway positioned himself carefully between her legs. His tip touched her entrance and she let out a violent shudder, almost expecting him to sink in immediately. Instead, he gave her the chance to grasp him by his shoulders and hug his hips with her thighs. “I’ll move now,” his voice cracked with those words. “It might sting, so…”

She shook her head and gave his shoulders a squeeze. With a small inhale, he slowly moved his hips and pushed into her, causing Mercedes to feel like she was being stretched open. “It’s…” She gasped, both at the pleasure and the slight pain. “It’s in…it’s really in…” A small giggle fell from her lips as Ingway wiggled above her, face twisted in embarrassment.

“And you…feel good…” He mumbled while his grip tightened on her shoulders. He drew out of her until his tip remained inside before sliding back in, the more natural nature of this second movement resulting in a low moan worming its way through the prince’s lips. “I’ll…try to withhold too much aggressiveness…”

Mercedes’s thighs squeezed at his sides and she saw his chest rise with another deep breath as he began the slow process of moving in and out of her without hurting her too much. It seemed that there had been enough foreplay beforehand, so if she was bleeding, neither of them noticed it. As the coil of pressure began to expand in her stomach, Mercedes helped Ingway along with a few of her own small thrusts.

“Just like that…” He hit a sensitive spot and she squeaked. “Increase…your pace a little…” The sweat was beading on their bodies and glistening like diamonds under the lights of the grove. Chest beating, head becoming lighter and dizzier, the girl wrapped her arms around her lover’s neck and pulled him in for a deep, incredibly passionate kiss. Ingway did not hesitate to let his tongue rub over her teeth this time and Mercedes found herself trying fight back and put her own tongue in his mouth.

“Really…really…” She felt so weightless and ecstatic. Their chests were pressed together and they were both refusing to let go of the other. Breaking their lips apart for air was undesired, but so necessary for how much they gasped and how much energy was being put into keeping them connected where it _really_ mattered.

 _I love you, I love you…_ they both exchanged these words despite the overwhelming euphoria overtaking them, each second bringing them closer to finishing. Somewhere along the line, Mercedes thought she heard a confession: something dark, something deep, something about being sorry that he was going to cause her more pain if he allowed her to continue loving him, but she just didn’t give a _damn_ anymore. She was so happy and elated to have her prince by her side and expressing the truest words within his being to her that she just wanted to grasp him and take him to the heavens with her.

So much went on in those meager few seconds that she wasn’t even sure if her mind was clear enough to register it all. Her name was practically screamed as something rushed in and filled her until she was beyond full. Back arching, head reeling, the finish came so suddenly and so unexpectedly that there was no telling what she was doing beyond digging her nails into Ingway’s skin and clinging on to him as waves rolled through her body.

Then, as the moment died away and the weight above her vanished, the bed’s canopy came back into focus. Mercedes felt something soft—a towel—patting down her sweat-soaked body while she recovered. A moment later, the mattress bounced as Ingway collapsed on his stomach next to her and ran fingers through his wet hair.

“That was so…ah…but are you…?” He reached over and brushed his fingers over her fringe. “Are you all right?”

“I-I’m fine,” Mercedes breathed. “That was…amazing…” She rolled over on to her side and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. “T-thank you. I don’t think it would have been nearly as great if it hadn’t been you.”

“Anything for Her Majesty,” Ingway said with a wink. “I just…Oh, I’m tired…And…” He smiled, faintly. “Might I ask permission to stay for a day and a night? I think I might need time to recover….”

“You’re always welcome here, Ingway,” Mercedes moved over and snuggled into his chest and breathed him in while he stroked the back of her head. “I…really want you to stay…Even if you need to go…”

Gently, his lips touched her forehead and he spoke, tone hopeful but with a slight crack in it.

“‘Tis fine. We’ll always meet again, all right?” He said.

Mercedes smiled and closed her eyes. She never saw the grief-stricken expression on his face, nor heard his apology before they both drifted away into slumber.


End file.
